Almost....

Well, we almost made it home! 15 of the 17 of us traveling home today didn't quite make it yet. It was one of those 'interesting' days. We started off by heading to the airport at 7 AM. The bus was on time for pickup for a change and we even left a bit ahead of schedule but then half way to the airport Al says "hey, the fan belt broke and the engine is overheating." Yeah, right, Al - quit kidding around, except he wasn't kidding. So we drove slow for a mile or so and the bus driver called in to his company for help. Fortunately, and maybe because the little old lady prayer warriors at the church here have been constantly praying for the group, there was an empty bus close by. The spare bus caught up to us within about 5 minutes and we did a really quick change and made it to the airport ok.

Then, as we were all breathing a collective sigh and contemplating the past week as our airplane taxied away from the gate, the Captain comes on the PA and says "an airplane ahead on the taxiway is dealing with a security issue and we'll be experiencing a slight delay." The security issue turned out to be a bomb threat to that flight and caused the airport to close. We had to return to the gate and were delayed over 3 hours. Hence, most of us missed our connections in Miami. So here we are roughing it at a Double Tree Hotel courtesy of Avianca Airlines. Sorry to all our families for the delay and there were many thoughts of disappointment among the group because they weren't able to get home tonight.

Someone in the group reminded us how thankful we really should be - no one was hurt when the neighbor's wall collapsed while finishing the water system hole dig; no one was electrocuted when the transformer exploded and an electrical wire fell on the bus; we made it to the airport even though our bus broke down; and we weren't on the flight that had the bomb threat. Wonder what else we don't know about that our prayer warriors prevented?!

Home tomorrow.

Dave for the Colombia Team.

R and R

We're back safe in the hotel after a relaxing day in Cartagena...which is about a 2-hour bus ride from our hotel in Barranquilla. We spent the day on the beach and by the pool, doing a little shopping and seeing the historic city center.

We returned to our hotel to find Ed doing much better and he recovered fast from whatever he had - most likely dehydration. Too bad he and Ellen weren't able to be with us for the day but so good to see him bounce back to good health.

So many stories to tell...so many details to finish and haven't even started packing. We leave at 7AM for the airport so signing off for now. Will attempt to do one more post of pictures when I get home and have some pictures from several other photographers.

Thanks again for your support and prayers. We definitely felt the power of prayers this week as we had a couple of near incidents (wall collapse and an electrical cable fell on the bus - like I said, we have stories yet to tell!) that could have been much more serious. Also, for the most part, the group was very healthy all week and many details came together to enable a successful finish.

Dave for the Colombia team.

The Finale

Click here for updated photos from today.

Today was our final day at the Rose of Sharon School. It was a very emotional day as we said goodbye to many new friends from Colombia. The project went great and today we were able to see the water flow. For me this was a very special moment. The Aquascape Foundation has completed it's second project in a third world country. I am so thankful to this team of people who have joined us on this trip. I am also thankful for the families of our teammates for the sacrifices they have made to make this trip possible. This team worked so hard and so well together. I am so proud of the work that they did. Many have signed up to sponsor children from the community so they can attend school. What a blessing it was to see these boys and girls at school because of their new sponsorship. Tomorrow we will drive to Cartagena for a day of shopping and hitting the beach. The team deserves some relaxation. We are all looking forward to heading home on Sunday. Please keep our team captain, Ed in your prayers tonight. He has a 103 fever and is not feeling well. Thanks for all your love and support.

Carla for the team.

Fiesta!

Today we joined in a grand fiesta on the opening day for this school year. The kids performed a traditional dance, the teachers were introduced and led various fun activities and a skit, and some team members were even, eh, encouraged to join in (like Diane and Carla in the picture). It was a great day and the staff and kids really thanked and honored the team for bringing clean water to the school.

Small jobs on the system are still going on but all should be finished tomorrow. At the end of the afternoon some of our group headed to the football (soccer) stadium for a game between the Barranquilla team and a team from Uruguay. Colombians LOVE football and the stadium here seats 65,000 and is the largest football stadium in South America. It was an amazing cultural experience and the game ended in a last minute goal by Barranquilla that ended the game in a tie.

We all returned to the hotel quite late this evening so only a few new pictures to post but we'll hope to get some more up tomorrow evening. Meanwhile, you can click here for a few more shots from the day.

Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Dave for Team Colombia

We Have Water!!!!

Click here for updated photos from today.

We are so happy to report that the Rose of Sharon School finally has water. The children will be coming tomorrow. Our water truck arrived this afternoon with 2,500 gallons and will return in the morning to fill it completely. We are so thankful to everyone who donated. We appreciate YOU being part of the solution!! The team is tired and sunburned. We moved 25 cubic yards of sand today and I for one have a mean backache! Tomorrow we will return to the site to move one more truckload of sand, finish up the ionization system, distribute clothing and school supplies and clean up the preschool play yard. We need to move quickly because we will be leaving around 3 to attend a soccer match between Barranquilla and a team from Uruguay in the South American champions league. Thanks again for your participation in making this trip a reality. That's all for now.

Good night from the team in Barranquilla.........

Carla

Great Progress...and the Reason Why

Click on the picture at the left to see updated pictures from today.

Our progress on the project went very well today. While certain things took longer than expected, it is really starting to look like a system that will provide clean water. The system is enclosed and ready for the water truck. Thank you to all who made the generous decision to donate towards providing water. Please keep the donations coming! We are so grateful.

While some worked on the system, a few spent hours going through an enormous amount of shoes and clothing. We are so excited to distribute these items to the woman and their children who desperately need them. So many of the children don't have a simple pair of shoes. Thanks to the Aquascape family and their friends, we have hundreds of pairs of shoes to distribute.

Half of the group went into the community today. Their situation is so extremely horrifying. Their homes have dirt floors and are made out of tin. A typical home has about 10 people living in a one room home. The school has capacity for 700 children, but unfortunately the families cannot afford what is necessary for their children to attend. The I.N. Network has a sponsorship program, and many of these children are just awaiting sponsors like you! A few members of our team have sponsored children and when the school year begins on Thursday, these darling little boys and girls will attend school. They are so thrilled!!! We spent the evening at our host and hostess' home. They made us a great dinner and we were all very honored to be invited. They are such amazing, generous and loving people. Thank you all so much for your encouraging emails and generous donations. We are seeing firsthand the need here and I promise that your donations are going to such a worthy cause. Remember.....water is life!

Carla for Team Colombia

Finally some pictures!

Finally have a strong enough wifi signal to get some pictures posted. Click the image on the right to see the photo set at Flikr.

Someone asked why we need a water truck since we're installing a water system. Short answer is that the community water system has been off for several days, which is common, and we need to test the system and get the school water for the start of the school year on Thursday (different schedule than in the US and Canada). The system harvests rainwater so after a short time with some rain and also using the community water system, when it works, a reserve will be built up to satisfy the needs of the school. It will be a HUGE blessing to have this in place since it is so hot here and almost 600 students in a small facility with no water is approaching dangerous and requires classes to be canceled too frequently.

We'll be trying to post pictures daily if we're able.

Dave for the team.